Welcome to Triratna NYC
Triratna Buddhist Community New York City
The Triratna Buddhist Community is a worldwide Buddhist movement devoted to teaching the essential truths of Buddhism in a format suited to the Western practitioner in the modern world. Triratna NYC offers meditation classes and Buddhist study for all levels of experience in the heart of the New York City.
About the Triratna Buddhist Community
The Triratna Buddhist Community, formerly Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO), is a Buddhist movement founded in London in 1967. It seeks to create all of the conditions needed for the effective practice of Buddhism in modern society, and has grown into a varied and energetic tradition of practice.
Triratna means “Three Jewels”, specifically the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, which are the central foci of a Buddhist’s life and practice. The Buddha the ideal of enlightenment, the Dharma the teachings of the path to enlightenment, the Sangha the spiritual community.
The Triratna Buddhist Community was founded by Urgyen Sangharakshita, an Englishman who had returned to the West from Asia with twenty years experience as a Buddhist monk and scholar. While in Asia he studied under teachers of the Theravada, Chinese Ch’an, and Tibetan Vajrayana traditions. His understanding of the teachings of Buddhism and his solid grounding in Western culture have enabled him to present a body of teachings that are particularly suited to Western practitioners.
At the heart of the Triratna Buddhist Community is the Triratna Buddhist Order (see What is an Order Member?), an association of more than 1500 men and women who have formally committed themselves to wholeheartedly pursuing their own spiritual development and facilitating that of others. Order members, Mitras (people who are deepening their contact with Buddhism and the Order), and Friends (those who participate in Triratna activities but have made no formal commitment to practicing the Dharma within the context of the Triratna Buddhist Community) often live, work, and practice together – some of them running public centers, some working in team-based right livelihood businesses, and many living in Buddhist residential communities.
The Triratna Buddhist Community is a remarkably diverse organization, including people of many nationalities, from all walks of life, and living a wide range of lifestyles, both lay and monastic. Practice within Triratna does not require a monastic lifestyle, and many Order members, Mitras, and Friends are married or have children. The essence of membership of the Order is simply a commitment to put Buddhist principles into action in one’s life.
Those involved with the Triratna Buddhist Community are encouraged to study widely in the Buddhist tradition, and Theravadin, Mahayana, and Vajrayana texts are regularly studied. The Triratna Buddhist Community draws inspiration from all but does not identify itself exclusively with any one of these traditions. We tend to regard ourselves simply as “Buddhists.”
The Triratna NYC is part of the Triratna Buddhist Community we hold regular introductory meetings as well as a weekly group for meditation and study.
| You can make a great deal of effort, but if it does not include an effort to create more favorable conditions, you are almost wasting your energy. On the other hand, you can be in the most favorable conditions imaginable, but if you are not making an effort, what use are those conditions? Both are necessary.~ “The Essential Sangharakshita” page 629 |
Triratna Story
Behind the Scenes of a New Buddhist Movement
This is the story of Triratna (formerly the FWBO), an international Buddhist movement, from its inception in London to its growth worldwide. It is the story of mistakes made, lessons learnt and how a Buddhist community was built.
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The Triratna Buddhist Community – http://www.thebuddhistcentre.org/
Triratna Buddhist Community News – http://fwbo-news.blogspot.com/
Triratna People – http://people.fwbo.org/
Sangharakshita.org – http://www.sangharakshita.org/
New in the bookstore
Living as a River:
Finding Fearlessness in the Face of Change
by Bodhipaksa
To face reality is to embrace change; to resist change is to suffer. This is the liberating insight that unfolds with Living as a River. A masterful investigation of the nature of self, this eloquent blend of current science and time-honored spiritual insight is meant to free us from the fear of impermanence in a world defined by change.
Living Ethically:
Advice from Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland (Buddhist Wisdom for Today)
by Sangharakshita
Challenging Times
Stories of Buddhist Practice When Things Get Tough
by Vishvapani
Gautama Buddha
the Life and Teachings of the Awakened One
by Vishvapani
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